"NASA scientists say 2013 tied for the seventh warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 133-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record."

Comments (8):

In the early years there where not so many measuring points as in 1990 where the first global warming reports started. Plus this is an average of an average. True it is warmer then first but is not only mankind that is causing it. Other factors are involved to.

When the whole globe is yellow like that then panic. It's all spotty depending on weather patterns. When facts agree with them it's globul warming, when they don't it's climate change. They want it both ways. Maybe they can explain how the ice age started and what ended it.

Global warming and climate change have become such buzz words that most people think its something new and unheard of until recently. What most people don't realize is that the planet is in a state of constant environmental flux. Climates change, species and civilizations die out, and new ones rise. In archaeology, paleoclimate change is an important area of study used in a lot of research. They use ice core samples, floral remains, like pollen and seeds, and even archaeological remains to study what the climate was like. It is evident that the climate changes a lot and even over the course of a few centuries climates can vary. I do agree however that the spike in temperatures we have seen over the past hundred years or so is congruent with a drastic increase in human population and industrial activity. The only times you find such a drastic change is with a major catastrophe, like an asteroid impact. Temperatures do rise and fall but it takes at least a few hundred years to change even a few degrees (centigrade). Where does that leave us? Well you are always going to have that person who says "global warming? Pah! Its so cold!!". The real consequence is that we will see more extreme weather, weather patterns will change, things like the jet stream will move to further extremes, the hot will get hotter and the cold will get colder, and eventually (hundreds or maybe thousands of years from now) the earth will correct itself with a major freeze, aka an ice age. Don't believe me? Do a bit of research and find out for yourself.